When deciding whether to hire a new graduate, is it reasonable to expect them to have a software development portfolio, where they have produced at least something equivalent in complexity to a blog software?

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4

For a little context: Are you the new graduate or the hiring manager?
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JohnFxFeb 15 '11 at 23:46

I'm one of the interviewers, looking for a recent or nearly graduated student.
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blueberryfieldsFeb 16 '11 at 5:14

7

I barely expect anything from new graduates, let alone create a comprehensive well thought out system designed for public consumption.
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Josh KFeb 16 '11 at 5:23

12 Answers
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That's a very specialized skill set, and I would hardly expect someone who had specialized in compilers at UC Santa Cruz or Waterloo, or graphics at Utah, or networking at UCSD, to be competent at writing blogging software.

Heck, I've been in the industry over 25 years, and I wouldn't even know where to start, because that's not where my career path has gone.

produced at least something equivalent
in complexity to a blog software

Ah, now, that's another story.

Yes, that would be ideal, but it would also depend a lot on the individual, and also whether the school they went to expected or encouraged working on projects of that size.

In my experience, doing a project of that complexity would put such a person in the top few percent of CS graduates. So - speaking as an employer - while I wouldn't rule somebody out if they hadn't done that, somebody who had done that would certainly get more attention from me.

If you mean a web interface that saves text input to the file system and can show the last three or four items on a web page then that depends on what language you expect them to be using.

I would not expect this to be part of a portfolio unless the candidate had a specific interest in blogging software (or a course project had started them in that direction (like a third year CS project that counted towards the final mark)).

+1 As it depends on what someone is looking for. A simple little application that stores some information to a database and displays it might be doable while a multi-user application may not be.
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rjziiFeb 16 '11 at 13:46

Yes, definitely. If a graduate can't develop even something that simple, I wonder what he has learned at all. That doesn't mean he necessarily has to have it in his portfolio, but he should be able to produce it on demand.

Christopher: Obviously we have different ideas about the feature set of a blog software. In my mind I have the most simple program that could be used to write a blog. Not Wordpress.
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user281377Feb 17 '11 at 7:41

I think it is unreasonable. For starters, most graduates can barely program anyway. Of the ones that can and will make good developers, only a small percentage are enthusiastic enough to be working on side projects. The top 1% might have developed something like that.

Could I have programmed something equivalent to a blog, straight out of university? Hell no.

My CS degree was focused on a lot more theory than actually programming - I could've explained things like race conditions, L-R parsers, implementations of sorting algorithms, etc. to you without batting an eyelid, but there was zero focus on producing production-ready working software.

What I learnt about web development (or equivalent) was completely self-taught, even though it ended up being my field - I did one class on database systems, it was pretty much completely theory-based.

Though then again, I'd probably term myself as one of GrandmasterB's exceptions - I held a full-time job throughout university and seriously didn't have time for anything other than work, class, projects for class, sleep.

It depends on your goals as an organization. If you run with a couple senior developers, each with 3 programming assistants, the assistants don't need anything special in their portfolio (except for a little curiosity).

On the other hand, some organizations take pleasure in hiring only the best and watching sparks fly off members of the team. In this case, even new hires should have a substantial project in their portfolio: at the very least a message queue or thumb drive app or music collection organizer. You get the idea.

Personally, I like a mix of abilities (including the ability to write blogging software). I've found it's possible for a team to learn a lot from each other, even when some of them don't know anything.

I dont even know how someone interested in the field could go through four years or more of Comp Sci/IT/etc and not at some point be curious enough to try to create something of some complexity on their own or with friends, be it a website, a game, a phone app....something.

With some exceptions (such as the kid working 4 jobs to pay for school), I'd interpret the lack of such projects as a lack of curiousity and self initiative. Not good traits for a developer, imo.

Many new graduates has different experiences..
They have Software Development project(Web etch..) in during their college years.
some has develop some small scale website and some are not...
some is really good in programming and some are not...

It still depends on how you level each new grads applicant and filter them how they answer your question interview.

And of course don't expect them too much...Offer some Boot camp and training courses..

If you are looking for someone who is a self starter and is passionate about their craft I think that it is reasonable to expect a new graduate to have created something equivalent in complexity to blogging software. In my senior year of college I created a simple blogging application and a dynamic bar graph component I hosted on my own professional site. In retrospect the code quality was not up to public consumption. However I believe this did get me interviews at companies that I don’t think I would have gotten otherwise.

If you can find someone who has, great. I wouldn't use it as a qualifying threshold though as you'll end up searching for a while. Also, the ability to crank out some piece of software in your dorm-room is hardly indicative of how a candidate will operate in a professional setting and as a member of your team.

It sounds a bit to me like you have a candidate that your gut-feeling says is wrong and you might be trying to rationalize that by inventing some criteria the candidate is sure to be unable to fulfill. Trust your gut, if you think a candidate is right or wrong, you are probably correct.